Legislative Bulletin: Three-Way Budget Negotiations Underway

March 24, 2023

ACTION ALERT: Urge State Senators to Support Nursing Home Rebasing!

As members will know from your review of LeadingAge NY’s summary of one-house budget proposals and other State Budget coverage, the Senate and Assembly have both proposed a 10% Medicaid rate increase for nursing homes. A 10% proposed increase is a step in the right direction from the Governor’s proposed 5%, however, we are still urging that a 20% Medicaid rate increase is what is needed to meaningfully support nursing home providers, staff, residents, and ensure access to care for the most vulnerable New Yorkers. In our advocacy, we have also been urging for the “rebasing” of nursing home Medicaid rates. Right now, our rates are based on 2007 costs. It is time that the State be held accountable to update nursing home Medicaid rates at least every 5 years, so that we never again find ourselves in a position with rates that are 15 years old.  

Fortunately, the Assembly’s one-house budget proposal included a statement of support for rebasing. However, we need to put some pressure on the Senate to join their Assembly colleagues in pushing for consistent rebasing of nursing home Medicaid rates.

PLEASE CALL YOUR STATE SENATOR AS SOON AS POSSIBLE with the below talking points, requesting a 20% rate increase and a requirement that the State update nursing home Medicaid rates at least every 5 years. You can find your legislators’ contact information here. Please call the Albany office as a first option, but if you don’t speak to someone, you can also call the district.

PHONE CALL TALKING POINTS: PLEASE SUPPORT THE INCLUSION OF NURSING HOME REBASING LANGUAGE (along with a 20% rate increase) IN THE FINAL NY STATE BUDGET!

• This year, nursing home families, staff and providers like myself from across the state have been urging for a 20% Medicaid increase for nursing homes.
• We have asked for 20% because our nursing home Medicaid rates today are based on 2007 costs. Our rates have not been updated for inflation ever since, despite the fact that costs have risen by 42%, conservatively.
• I thank the Senate for proposing a 10% increase in your one-house budget, but unfortunately, it will not be enough to cover costs and enable stronger recruitment and retention of staff in the nursing home sector.
• A substantial Medicaid rate increase is a critical first step to ensuring the financial viability of non-profit nursing homes like my own.  Increasing rates will enable us to hire more staff, open more beds, reduce waitlists for care, and alleviate hospital gridlock. 
• In addition to this first step, we need a stable, long-term solution. If not, we will find ourselves in this same position again every year.
• To solve the root of the problem, the Legislature should require the State to update nursing home Medicaid rates at least every 5 years to better reflect current costs. This can be accomplished with “rebasing” budget language.
• The Assembly One-House budget supports nursing home rebasing. We urge the Senate to join them.
• Include any specifics for your organization RE: waitlists for nursing home beds, the increase in workforce costs - union contracts, wages, benefits, bonuses, etc.
• Please urge your colleagues to provide a 20% Medicaid increase to nursing homes AND include rebasing legislation in the Final NY State Budget!!

As the Senate, Assembly and the Governor negotiate the final budget agreement, by April 1, it is critical that we consistently remind these decision makers of the importance of nursing home care for our older adults, our most vulnerable, and the entire health care continuum. Thank you for your advocacy at this critical time!

 

Amplify Our Social Media Message of the Week!

Social media is an effective way to keep the pressure on lawmakers as they deliberate over what will be included in the Final NY State Budget for fiscal year 2023-24. In order to truly harness the power of social media, we ask ALL of our LeadingAge NY membership to take a few minutes to amplify our unified message!

Please take a moment to copy and paste the below message into your social media platforms, Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn! In your post, please include this photo.  

NYS has not updated nursing home Medicaid rates for inflation since 2008. The result? A depleted workforce, 6,600 beds taken offline since 2019, delayed discharges from hospitals, and long waits in ERs. NY needs a long-term solution. @GovKathyHochul @AndreaSCousins @CarlHeastie

Additionally, LeadingAge New York has created a whole new set of social media messages, graphics, and instructions for how we recommend members use these tools, available here. Please note that there are new messages available for each service line. The social media posts themselves are crafted so you can simply copy & paste into your Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. To add an image to your message, simply download & save the graphic and add it to your post. Please reach out to Sarah Daly at sdaly@leadingageny.org with any questions.

 

Health Budget Subcommittee Holds Public Meeting

Late last Friday, the Legislature announced the General Budget Conference Committee (“the Mothership”) and budget subcommittee appointments. The “Mothership” met on Monday afternoon, and the Joint Budget Subcommittee on Health met for the first time on Tuesday afternoon. In attendance at the health meeting were Co-Chairs Amy Paulin and Gustavo Rivera, Assembly Members Weprin, Reyes, Fall, Zaccaro, Jensen, Giglio, and Senators Cleare, Fernandez, Webb, Gallivan, and Stec.

Included in the list of health budget priorities recounted by the Co-Chairs were nursing home reimbursement rates, hospital reimbursements rates, homecare funding for hospice care, the long-term care ombudsman program, consumer directed personal care assistance program and fair pay accountability.

During the public meeting that lasted about 20 minutes, Assembly Member Jensen expressed the Minority conference’s support for increasing the Medicaid reimbursement rates for nursing homes, and also noted his conference’s concerns over expanding Medicaid, as the Minority believed it should serve only the most vulnerable. Senator Stec elaborated further on the need to update the nursing home Medicaid rate, expressing concern over the future of nursing homes. He pointed out that stakeholders and reports had recommended a 20% increase but that the Senate had landed on 10% in their One-House Budget, which he admitted was better than the Executive proposal, but still left much to be desired.

Assembly Member Fall, who stepped in to represent Assembly Member Kim as the Aging Chair, raised concerns over the State's aging population and stated that the Master Plan for Aging must get ahead of the projected needs for seniors, and ensure funding for the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program. He also stated that he was pleased to see $15 million in funding for guardianship assistance and over $30 million for expanded in-home care funding. Senator Cleare, the Senate Aging Chair, echoed these and other statements, as well as emphasizing the need to update the nursing home Medicaid rate.

Other health care issues that were highlighted during the meeting were the Medicaid Global Cap, the upcoming 340-b carveout, hospital safety net funding, the need for substance abuse disorder intervention programs, and the need for women's healthcare funding – among many others priorities. An archived recording of the public meeting is available here.

 

Send UPDATED Budget Advocacy Letters TODAY!

Now that we have seen the one-house budget proposals, and the Governor, the Senate and the Assembly have begun their three-way budget negotiations, it is critical that we keep the needs of aging services providers and the people in our care top-of-mind for state lawmakers!

LeadingAge New York has UPDATED the below service-line specific digital advocacy letters to help us keep the pressure on legislators for the remainder of 2023-24 budget discussions. Each letter takes only a minute or two to send. Simply enter your information to automatically send an email to the Governor and your State Senator and Assembly Member!

Please use the below links to send messages to your legislators and the Governor TODAY!

• Nursing Home Budget Letters – several letters available for family members, staff, residents, etc.
• ACF/ALP & Low-Income Seniors Budget Letter
• Home & Community-Based Services Budget Letter
• Managed Long-Term Care Budget Letter
•  Adult Day Health Care Budget Letter
• CCRC Budget Letter
• Affordable Senior Housing Budget Letter

After you send your letters, we strongly encourage members to share these links with residents, families, staff, board members and volunteers. This is a simple and easy way to amplify our message!

If you believe that your state legislators are well informed on your budget priorities, and you have also already enlisted family members, staff, and consumers in your advocacy, we encourage you to ask your network of advocates to take to social media! Tagging lawmakers in social media messages posted by constituents is an effective way to apply public pressure to your local legislators as well as legislative leaders. Check out our NEW General Public social media messages, which can be used in a variety of ways, including asking your network of advocates to share and like your social media posts, or ask them to post on their own!  

 

Hochul Nominates Dr. James V. Mcdonald to Serve as Health Commissioner

This morning, Governor Kathy Hochul announced the nomination of Dr. James V. McDonald M.D., M.P.H. to serve as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Health. Dr. McDonald is an experienced public health professional who has served as New York's Acting Commissioner of Health since January 1.

A press release from the Governor’s office states, “Dr. James V. McDonald is a talented public health leader with the skills and experience necessary to lead our Department of Health. I am proud to nominate him to this critical role, and I look forward to working closely with him to protect the health of all New Yorkers.”

LeadingAge New York met with the Acting Health Commissioner in January, shortly after his initial appointment. McDonald is a native of Cohoes and the brother of state Assemblyman John McDonald. He joined the state Department of Health in July 2022 and had served as the medial director of the Office of Public Health.

 

REGISTER NOW: LeadingAge National Leadership Summit & Lobby Day!

LeadingAge National’s spring conference and lobby day is scheduled for April 17-19 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, D.C. During the 2023 LeadingAge Leadership Summit, attendees will have the opportunity to learn about forward-looking solutions to solve the problems of today and the future, explore ideas to help bolster and empower our workforce, and influence the nation’s decision-makers via a coordinated lobbying effort on Capitol Hill.

This year, the Leadership Summit is structured in a way that allows attendees to participate in lobby efforts without missing any educational sessions or opportunities. All education sessions will conclude by 12 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19^th, at which point an afternoon of lobby day meetings will begin for those that would like to participate.

Sarah Daly of LeadingAge New York will be attending the summit and lobby day, and will be there to join meetings with any New York membership that chooses to attend. All meetings will be organized and set up by LeadingAge National, so, all you need to do is register and book your flight! We hope to see you there!

Click here to register for the 2023 Leadership Summit and Lobby Day, today!

 

LeadingAge & LeadingAge New York Coronavirus Resources

LeadingAge NY continues to closely follow all COVID-19 news and we are doing our best to keep members informed of updates, recommendations and guidelines from the Department of Health (DOH).

LeadingAge NY and LeadingAge National Member resources are linked below.

LeadingAge NY Coronavirus Resources

LeadingAge NY COVID-19 Weekly Update calls – Mondays at 11 a.m. Click here to join the call from your computer, android or apple device. Or you can join the call by dialing in: 877 853 5257 (Toll Free); Webinar ID: 852 964 255.

LeadingAge National Coronavirus Policy Updates – Mondays and Wednesdays at 3:30 p.m. Past call recordings are available here and you can register here for future calls.

Contact: Sarah Daly; 518.867.8845; sdaly@leadingageny.org